This invention relates generally to wireless services on a wireless device. More specifically, the present invention provides systems and methods for automatically activating wireless services on a wireless device.
The Internet and the World Wide Web (hereinafter xe2x80x9cthe webxe2x80x9d) have revolutionized the ways in which information is disseminated and shared. At any given time, the Internet enables millions of users worldwide to communicate, access a wide variety of information, and engage in activities as diverse as shopping, playing games, and financial trading, among others.
The vast array of services provided in the Internet has driven users to demand Internet access from anywhere in the globe. As a result, a new set of networking technologies have been developed. Users can now choose between high speed Internet connections provided by T1 or T3 lines leased from telephone companies, telephone and cable modems, digital subscriber lines (DSL), and wireless networks. In particular, the emergence of wireless networks has enabled mobile Internet access through various xe2x80x9cwireless devicesxe2x80x9d, which are electronic devices configured with a wireless Internet access system. Wireless devices include, but are not limited to, microprocessor based devices such as personal and portable computers, set-top boxes, video game consoles, and handheld appliances such as cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and electronic organizers.
Mobile users connected to a wireless network can access the Internet on a wireless device from any location covered by the network. Wireless networks include personal area networks (WPANs) based on the Bluetooth(trademark) standard, wireless local area networks (WLANs) based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards, and wireless wide area networks (WWANs) based on open wireless standards such as AMPS, GSM, TDMA, CDMA, and CDPD. Both WPANs and WLANs offer limited user mobility, while WWANs allow users to roam freely across extensive geographic areas.
At present, most mobile users access the Internet through a WWAN by using a wireless device equipped with a wireless modem and Internet access software. The wireless modem may be either internally integrated into the Internet appliance, such as in the case of the Palm VIIx PDA, manufactured by Palm, Inc., of Santa Clara, Calif., or connected externally. External wireless modems include the Ricochet modem, manufactured by Metricom, Inc., of San Jose, Calif., for use with personal and portable computers across a proprietary WWAN owned and operated by Metricom, and the various modems manufactured by Novatel Wireless, Inc., of San Diego, Calif., and Sierra Wireless, Inc., of Richmond, BC, for use with PDAs and cellular phones across WWANs operated by a wireless carrier, such as Sprint PCS, of Overland Park, Kans., Verizon Wireless, of New York City, N.Y., and ATandT wireless, of Seattle, Wash.
The Internet access software may consist of a xe2x80x9cweb browserxe2x80x9d, such as Internet Explorer, available from Microsoft Corporation, of Redmond, Wash., or a xe2x80x9cmicrobrowserxe2x80x9d, which is a simpler version of a web browser with reduced graphic capabilities. In addition, the Internet access software may contain a variety of APIs (application program interfaces) and associated applications for formatting and displaying xe2x80x9cweb pagesxe2x80x9d on the Internet appliance. A web page is a multimedia composition that may contain text, audio, graphics, imagery, video, and nearly any other type of content that may be experienced on a wireless device or other Internet appliances. A web page may also be interactive, and contain user selectable links that cause other web pages to be displayed, forms that may be used by the user to submit information requested in the web page, interactive executable code, or other elements through which the user may interact with web pages. A group of one or more interconnected and closely related web pages is referred to as a xe2x80x9cweb site.xe2x80x9d
A web site has a particular address associated with it called a Uniform Resource Locator (xe2x80x9cURLxe2x80x9d). To view a particular web site, users input its corresponding URL on the wireless device either by typing the URL address on a web browser window or xe2x80x9ctappingxe2x80x9d an icon or menu button on a PDA screen or cellular phone. The web site is transmitted via a wired connection from a xe2x80x9cweb serverxe2x80x9d on the Internet to a xe2x80x9cbase stationxe2x80x9d, which is a radio tower that provides radio coverage to a given geographic area known as a xe2x80x9ccell.xe2x80x9d The base station then transmits the web site to the user""s wireless device through radio waves.
To access web pages and other Internet content on a WWAN, users are required to subscribe to a wireless service plan offered by a wireless service provider. A wireless service provider is a company that offers cellular phone service and/or wireless Internet service including e-mail and web access through a WWAN. Examples of wireless service providers offering Internet access include Verizon Wireless, Metricom, Inc., Sprint PCS, and OmniSky Corporation, of San Francisco, Calif. The wireless service plans are provided on a monthly or annual fee basis, with the fee depending on the type of services and geographic coverage desired.
Typically, users purchase the service plan at a retail store, web site associated with the wireless service provider, or by calling a customer service representative. Users may purchase the service plan together or after purchasing the wireless device. In addition, users may add or change a service plan at any time after purchase.
To use the services provided in the service plan, users must first xe2x80x9cactivatexe2x80x9d the services in their wireless devices. The activation process typically requires a series of steps involving the user and the wireless service provider. The steps may consist of the user providing a unique identification code associated with the wireless device or wireless modem, selecting a specific service plan, and providing personal and financial information to the wireless service provider for the purposes of billing the service plan. The activation process may also require the user to select a user name and a password for accessing the wireless services. The information may be provided on a web site or by calling a personal customer representative.
As part of the activation process, the wireless service provider registers the wireless device on user databases, servers, and/or billing systems. The wireless service provider may also assign an IP address to the wireless device, and may further instruct the user to install any activation codes or software on the wireless device. During the installation process, the user may be required to install software and/or enter an activation code on the wireless device.
At present, the activation process cannot be performed without requiring human interaction with a customer service representative or a time delay before the wireless services become activated on the wireless device. Users of the Ricochet network, for example, are required to wait 48 hours for a service plan to be activated on their wireless devices after selecting a service plan on a web site. Users dealing with customer service representatives quite often incur delays before their service plans are ready for use. In short, there are currently no provisions in place for wireless service providers to automatically activate wireless services for wireless device users without requiring human interaction or time delays in activating the services.
In view of the foregoing drawbacks, it would be desirable to provide systems and methods for automatically activating wireless services on multiple wireless devices.
It further would be desirable to provide systems and methods for a wireless service provider to automatically register a wireless device on a wireless network and provision wireless services for the wireless device without requiring the user to interact with a customer service representative or incur time delays to activate the services.
It also would be desirable to provide systems and methods for a wireless service provider to enable a wireless device user to select a wireless service plan on a web site, provide device-specific, personal, and financial information on the web site, and receive an activation code to automatically activate the wireless service plan for use on the wireless device.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide systems and methods for automatically activating wireless services on multiple wireless devices.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide systems and methods for a wireless service provider to automatically register a wireless device on a wireless network and provision wireless services for the wireless device without requiring the user to interact with a customer service representative or incur time delays to activate the services.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide systems and methods for a wireless service provider to enable a wireless device user to select a wireless service plan on a web site, provide device-specific, personal, and financial information on the web site, and receive an activation code to automatically activate the wireless service plan for use on the wireless device.
These and other objects of the present invention are accomplished by providing systems and methods for automatically provisioning wireless services on a wireless device. The wireless services may include cellular phone service, e-mail, Internet access, games, financial trading, and location-aware services, among others. Location-aware services are services provided to a wireless device user according to the user""s geographic location. Such services may include weather, restaurant reservation services, travel services, mapping services, among others. The wireless services are provided according to a fee-based wireless service plan offered by the wireless service provider and selected by the user.
The systems and methods consist of a software and hardware infrastructure that enables a wireless service provider to automatically register a wireless device on a wireless network and a wireless device user to automatically activate wireless services on the wireless device. The wireless services are selected by the wireless device user by means of an activation web site. The activation web site contains on-line forms to enable a wireless device user to submit device-specific, personal, and financial information to the wireless service provider. The information is provided for registering the wireless device on the wireless network and billing the wireless device user for accessing the wireless services.
In a preferred embodiment, the systems and methods of the present invention involve the following main components: (1) an activation web site; (2) an activation web server; (3) a user database; (4) a billing server; (5) an IP address database; (6) a messaging server; (7) wireless application servers; and (8) an activation module on the wireless device.
The activation web site is a web site maintained by the wireless service provider to allow wireless device users to select a wireless service plan. The wireless service plan specifies the wireless services available to the wireless device users and the fees associated with the service plan. The wireless services may not be available in all geographic regions due to the restricted coverage area of the wireless network. When selecting the service plan, users are required to submit personal and financial information for billing purposes. Users may also be asked to select a username and password for accessing the wireless services on the wireless device.
In addition, users are able to submit device-specific information on the web site to identify the wireless device unit for which the wireless services are to be activated. The device-specific information may include the wireless device""s serial number, the wireless modem equipment identifier (EID), or any other identification information associated with the wireless device and understood by the wireless service provider.
The activation web site is provided to wireless device users by the activation server. The activation server processes all the requests submitted on the activation web site by the wireless device users. The activation server creates a record for each wireless device user containing the information submitted on the activation web site. The user records are stored into a user database associated with a billing server. The billing server handles the billing and payment of the wireless service plan fees charged by the wireless service provider to the wireless device user.
A messaging server polls the user record from the user database and sends the relevant user data to one or more wireless application servers responsible for a given wireless service. For example, the messaging server sends the user""s record to a wireless e-mail server for registering a new e-mail account for the user.
Additionally, the activation server selects an IP address and a side preference associated with the wireless carrier in the WWAN for each wireless device specified by the user. The IP address is selected from an IP address database that maintains an inventory of IP addresses that are available for activation. To reduce the risk of fraud when an IP address and side preference are provided to a user, the activation server encodes the IP address and the side preference into an activation code. The activation code may be a hash of the IP address and side preference with appended checksum characters for error correction.
The activation code is then posted on the activation web site for the user. To complete the activation of the wireless services, the user executes an activation module on the wireless device. The user logs into the device with the username and password selected at the web site, and enters the activation code into a window provided by the activation module on the device""s screen. The activation module decodes the activation code back into the IP address and side preference and programs them into the wireless modem""s memory, thereby activating the wireless services on the wireless device. The user may select a different wireless service plan or de-activate the wireless services at any time after activation.
The activation module also enables the user to specify any preferences associated with the use of the wireless services. The preferences may include a personal web site to be displayed to the user when logging into the device, a list of favorite web sites, and a list of preferred financial stocks, among others.
Advantageously, the present invention enables a wireless device user to have immediate access to wireless services on a wireless device without having to interact with a customer service representative or incur time delays before using the wireless services. The present invention also enables a wireless service provider to automatically handle the activation and billing of wireless services for multiple wireless device users.